Melrose East apartment complex sold for $1.8 million

A group of New Orleans investors has purchased an apartment complex in Melrose East for nearly $1.8 million.

Ryer Investors LLC purchased the Cabana Gardens in a deal that was filed Tuesday with the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court’s Office. The seller was California-based Cabana Partners LLC.

Cabana Gardens is a 68-unit complex at 6875 Harry Drive, with rents that average $560 for a one-bedroom and $675 for a two-bedroom unit. The complex was built in the mid-1970s and has historically had an occupancy rate in the mid- to upper-90 percent range, said Justin Langlois, of SVN|Graham, Langlois & Legendre. Langlois and Troy Collins, of SVNGLL, represented both the buyer and the seller in the deal.

Langlois said the new owners have several apartment complexes in Melrose East, so it made a lot of sense to pick up another complex. Plans are to renovate the exterior and make cosmetic interior renovations to the units, but rents will remain the same.

There’s a lot of activity in Melrose East, Langlois said, between the 200-acre Ardendale development being shepherded by the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority and the redevelopment of the 284-unit Hawthorne Heights Apartments at 2136 N. Lobdell Blvd. “There are opportunities for a number of properties to change hands,” he said.